The Easiest Nut Free Vegan Baklava Only 6 Ingredients Recipe
By Vgn Bites
🔪Prep Time: 30 mins
👩🍳Cook Time: 20 mins
Ingredients
For the baklava and date filling
1 kg Medjool dates
2-3 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar
16 oz package phyllo dough,thawed
2 sticks unsalted butter (normal orvegan) (up to 16 tablespoons), melted
For the rose syrup
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 tsp lemon juice
1-2 tsp Rose Water
Instructions
1Preheat the oven to350° F.
2Make the Datespread: Pit all the dates, then add to a food processor or blender. Pulse a fewtimes to chop. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and add olive oil and cinnamon.Using your hands mix well to combine. Set aside.
3Make the Rose WaterSyrup (often called Honey Syrup in recipes – you can also use plain honey asthe syrup): Place the sugar and water in a saucepan, add 1 teaspoon lemon juice andheat on the stove-top. Don’t stir the mixture, wait until sugar dissolves(about 8 minutes). Then add the rose water. At this point it should be boiling,lower heat and check if the syrup is ready by pouring one teaspoon of the syrupin small dish. If the teaspoon sticks to the dish when you try to disconnect itfrom the dish, it means that your syrup is ready. Remove syrup from heat andlet cool to lukewarm.
4Prepare the PhylloPastry: Unroll the thawed phyllo pastry and place the sheets in between twoclean kitchen towels. This will help keep the phyllo from breaking while youwork.
5Assemble theBaklava: Prepare a 9”x 13”x 2” baking pan. Brush the interior of the baking panwith some of the melted butter. To assemble the baklava, take one sheet ofphyllo and place it in the pan (for this size pan, I typically fold my phyllosheet in half, and it fits perfectly. You can also do a bit of trimming using apair of kitchen shears). Brush the top of the phyllo sheet with the meltedbutter.
6Repeat this processa few more times until you have used up about 1/2 of the phyllo pastry, eachlayer being brushed with the melted butter (mine was 20 layers).
7Now, distribute thedate spread evenly over the top layer of phyllo.
8Continue assemblingthe baklava, one sheet of phyllo pastry at a time using another 1/2 of thephyllo package. Again, brush each layer with a bit of the melted butter.
9Brush the very top sheet ofphyllo with butter.
10Cut the BaklavaPastry into Pieces: Using a sharp knife, cut the pastry into 24rectangle or diamond shaped pieces (you can get up to 36 smaller pieces).(Review the tutorial to see how I cut baklava).
11Bake: Place the bakingdish on the middle rack of your heated oven. Bake at 350º F anywhere from 25-35minutes or until the top of the baklava turns golden and a skewer inserted inthe canter comes out clean. (IMPORTANT…Because ovens vary, be sure to checkyour baklava half-way through baking – this is why the bake time range).
12Pour Syrup Over HotBaklava: As soon as you remove the baklava from the oven, pour the cooled rosewater syrup (Honey syrup) all over the hot baklava.
13Cool Completely: Allow baklava to sit for a few hours before serving or for at least 1hour. Cut through the earlier marked pieces. Serve with a garnish of SantaBarbara Cacao Nibs.
